music from past to present,
always with dance groove

On piano and flute, Bill and Liz play romantic couples dances, hot contras,
elegant English, and historically accurate programs for Regency (Jane Austen era),
Victorian (1860s), Gilded Age (1890s) and Ragtime. Argentine tangos, milongas and vals
are a special passion of theirs. Liz and Bill usually play as a trio with violin. See
about Spare Parts to find out more about them and their favorite
violinists (the "Spare Parts").

Mercy, we're on PBS!

Bill was asked for more music for Ridley Scott's second Mercy Street series. Acting as producer,
Bill arranged for our friend Steve Gillette to record some of the requested tracks, and for
teachers from the Berkshire Music School to supply violin and cello tracks. Music from both our Civil War-era CDs
was used for dance scenes in the first "Mercy Street" series:
www.pbs.org/mercy-street/

MP3s now available

Digital downloads are available from our online store. We've been providing
these to overseas fans for some time but took a while to get everything set up on our website.

Waltz Book IV

Bill has produced a fourth volume of his popular Waltz Books. Come to one of our upcoming dances to get your copy and save shipping costs.

Dance instruction DVD

Video footage of Patri Pugliese teaching basics and style points of mid-19th century dances. Bill
has compiled it as a DVD, Couple Dances of the Civil War Ballroom, released in 2012 to coincide with the 25th (and final)
Newport Vintage Dance Week, where Patri taught for many years. Individual lessons and costumed demonstrations of each dance.

Liz, Bill, Ruthie Dornfeld and friends have recorded a second cd of Civil War-era dance music. Here's a
sample for you...

The Civil War Dance Manual

Liz has taken Patri Pugliese's dance
instructions, added illustrations, and formatted everything in the style of a 19th-century
pocket dance manual to accompany The Civil War Ballroom recording by Spare Parts.
Pugliese's Dances for the Civil War Ballroom is
"a comprehensive must-have for the vintage dance enthusiast... This relatively small (in size) book is ...
packed with succinct and well-written descriptions of dance steps, rules of etiquette, appropriate attire, and even authentic
period recipes for refreshments...." [review by Cathy on goodreads]

Liz, Bill, and Eric are in the movies!

Did you see Bright Star, the
romantic movie about poet John Keats? Jane Campion's time capsule of the Regency Era
includes music from our cd The Regency Ballroom. Listen for "Sussex Waltz"
in the big dance scene, closely followed by "Bonnie Highland Laddie." And watch for Spare Parts in the credits!
Check out the New York Times movie review and trailer.